Page 58 of Caleb

“Yes, a ninny,” Eugenia said with a huff. “You’re letting fear rob you of the best thing that’s ever happened to you, and for what? To protect yourself? To prove some imaginary point about how love always ends in disaster? It’s nonsense, Caleb. Nonsense!”

He stared at her, the weight of her words sinking in.

“Do you love her?” Eugenia asked, tilting her head.

Caleb hesitated, then nodded slowly. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “I do.”

“Then stop acting like a fool and tell her,” Eugenia said, exasperation lacing her tone. “And while you’re at it, tell her why you’ve been such an idiot. She’s smart—she’ll figure it out eventually, and you’d better hope she still wants to listen when she does.”

Caleb rubbed the back of his neck, frustration bubbling up inside him. “What if I mess it up? What if?—”

“Mess it up?” Eugenia interrupted, throwing her hands in the air. “Oh, honey, you’re doing that just fine by keeping quiet and retreating like a scared little rabbit. Do you want to be your father? Because this is how it starts. Running from love. From commitment. From the people who need you most.”

Her words hit him like a blow, and Caleb staggered back, gripping the porch railing.

“You have a choice, Caleb,” Eugenia said, her voice softening. “You can let fear win, or you can be the man Taylor and Liam deserve. The man I know you are.”

He closed his eyes, the weight of her words pressing down on him. When he opened them again, Eugenia stood before him, her expression uncharacteristically gentle.

“I’m rooting for you, sweetness,” she said softly. “But you’ve got to root for yourself first.”

And just like that, she was gone, fading into the moonlight like she had never been there.

Caleb stood on the porch, her words echoing in his mind. He thought of Taylor, Liam, and the life he could have if he were brave enough to fight for it.

He wasn’t his father.

And it was time he started acting like it.

With renewed determination, Caleb grabbed his truck keys, the weight of hesitation finally lifting from his shoulders. It was time to stop running. Time to fight for what mattered most.

It was time to get Taylor.

She needed to hear everything—the truth about his past, the fears that had kept him locked in place, the love he hadn’t been brave enough to voice before. And if it meant dropping to one knee and putting his heart in her hands, then so be it.

Because the woman already had his heart, whether she knew it or not, and if she was going to leave, she was taking it with her.

But Caleb wasn’t going to let her leave without knowing exactly how he felt. This time, he was all in—no fear, no retreat, no excuses.

CHAPTER26

Taylor had just settled onto the couch with a mug of tea, the house quiet now that Liam was finally asleep. The glow from the table lamp cast a warm circle of light, and she let herself exhale slowly, trying to untangle the storm of emotions swirling inside her.

It had been two days since she’d heard from Caleb. Two long, lonely days that stretched endlessly, each hour heavier than the last. Taylor tried to focus on her work, Liam, or anything that would keep her mind from circling back to him, but it was useless.

The silence was deafening.

Had he disappeared again? Was this his way of walking away without having to say the words? The thought had fear filling her, even as she tried to push it aside.

She glanced at her phone for the hundredth time that day, hoping it would ring or buzz and show hersomething.But there was nothing: the blank, unfeeling screen and the growing weight of uncertainty in her heart.

Is it over?The question haunted her, gnawing at the edges of her resolve. She hated how much space he took up in her thoughts, how easily he’d slipped back into her life and now seemed to be slipping away again.

Yet, despite her frustration and doubt, she couldn’t entirely convince herself to give up. Not yet. Not after everything.

Because no matter what, she loved him.

She had been falling in love with Caleb all over again since the moment they’d crossed paths at the convention. After all those years, seeing him again had stirred something in her she thought she’d buried—a longing, a hope she hadn’t even realized was still there.

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